St. Patrick’s Church, situated in historic downtown Walla Walla, Washington, is a Gothic-style building that was founded in 1859. This 167-year-old institution is renowned for its exquisite Italian marble, particularly its stunning high altar. However, like many places of worship, it underwent significant alterations due to the design trends of the 1970s, which stripped away…
In this month’s issue of Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Living magazine, there’s a short article I consulted on about the resurgence of marble in homes today. The article says, “every countertop has a story to tell.” The pictures in the report come from a home we completed this year using an extraordinary marble from Italy. I’ll tell…
“This old baptismal font isn’t working well for us anymore.”Once again, I found myself at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in downtown Spokane Washington, “making marble great again,” as Father Connall jokingly proclaimed. As major renovations were already underway, the need to move the existing baptismal naturally led into the conversation of altering…
These are crazy times indeed. Like everyone, Covid-19 has affected our business in profound ways. Luckily, construction has remained relatively steady, and aside from the mandatory shutdowns for the public side of our company, we were still able to remain somewhat active as we service both Washington and Idaho, construction remaining an essential service for…
***Disclaimer*** This is a totally self-congratulating, apparently I did something good so indulge me kind of story, and may contain an expletive or two. Continue at your own risk. I struggled whether or not I would write about this, but eventually came to the conclusion that this blog is about my life’s journey in the…
“Under the gaze of the angels, a spectacle like he’s never seen. Spinning lights and faces, demon music and gypsy queens.” -N. Peart, from “Carnies” “Life will be so boring when I get home” I thought to myself after spending nearly a month immersed in the craziness of India, an experience that is the polar opposite…
There was a story on the news a while back about some guy taking a baseball bat to Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in downtown Spokane. The perpetrator singled out a hundred year old Italian bas-relief carving of the Last Supper, making the historic work of marble his personal piñata. After shaking my head, and…
Choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don’t need.” -Auguste Rodin My latest sculpture, titled “Aura”, began as a small metal ribbon that I bent and twisted into an asymmetrical, yet visually balanced shape. Easy enough, right? I spent a surprisingly great deal of time getting it just right. A lot of…
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free…” -Michelangelo On the Gonzaga campus, there sits a lonely angel, offering holy water at the entrance of St. Aloysius cathedral. A hundred years of dipping fingers in the water, leaving behind dirt, oil, hand lotions and the like, contaminating the old,…
These days, young people entering the workforce generally seem to gravitate towards technology driven jobs, as opposed to careers in the trades. Although this seems to be the case abroad as well, I am happy to report that teaching traditional craftsmanship is alive and well at the Brenzoni Scuola del Marmo (school of marble) among…